TAYLOR TAKES OVER THE REINS AT HIGHFIELD

Date: 6th January 2016

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

A new skipper at Billinge Road ......

James Taylor has been appointed the new captain of Highfield. He replaces Mike Farrell who, along with Chris Liptrot, will be playing his cricket for Firwood Bootle in 2016.

One of Taylor’s main jobs will be to prepare his first-team squad for the challenge of playing in the First Division in just a few months’ time but the new man in charge at Billinge Road was in sanguine mood as he contemplated the task ahead.

“It’s obviously been a tough start to the winter as a club,” he said. “Seeing two great players like Mike and Chris leave us was a bitter pill to swallow for us all. But having said that, I'm sure you will agree that this provides a massive opportunity for everyone to pull together and put their names in the hat on a performance front,

whether as a young player establishing himself or a senior cricketer cementing his status.

“I look forward to getting stuck in with everybody. It’s a fresh start and certainly an exciting year ahead!"

For Highfield chairman Gary Speakman the two departures following the club’s relegation from the ECB Premier League presented another challenge at a club where so much progress has been made over recent years.

“2015 has been a challenging year for the first team,” he admitted. “Relegation has been followed by Chris and Mike’s decisions to play at Bootle. Mike and Chris are both life members with long playing records from being juniors at Highfield, so we still expect to see them at the club on a regular basis and I wish them well next season.”

“However, once we became aware of Mike’s departure, our focus immediately switched to appointing a new captain as soon as possible to help our pre-season preparations.

“I was pleased to announce that James Taylor will be our captain for the 2016 season and on behalf of the committee and members, I would like to congratulate "Jimmy" who was delighted and proud to take on the role.”